31.1.10

Relating to his Oscar-nominated role in Judgment at Nuremberg and the fact that he is not getting a salary for it.

TLS: "Montgomery Clift", 2p, 8½x11, separate sheets. New York, 1961 January 31. A letter from Roxlom Films to Clift, headed "Re: 'Judgement at Nuremberg'", which he has signed on the second page at lower left under the words: "Accepted and Agreed to". Clift is notified by Roxlom Films "that insofar as United States and State income taxes are concerned, that, because we are not compensating you by payment of salary, such taxing authorities may take the position that the living expenses and transportation which we have paid for you under the employment agreement should be considered as income or gratuities because they do not relate to the production of income for you...we will pay to you the difference between the amount of income tax which you would have had to pay had such expense payments not been a part of your taxable income and the amount of income tax which you may be required to pay by including such expenses or any part thereof as income taxable to you...." Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was nominated for the 1961 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as witness Rudolph Peterson in Judgment at Nuremberg. He had been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in 1948 (The Search), 1951 (A Place in the Sun) and 1953 (From Here to Eternity). 2 file holes at top blank margin, staple holes at blank left corner. Creased top blank margin.

Author of books:War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics (1996, with Tom Brazaitis)Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (1996, with Tom Brazaitis)Madam President: Women Blazing the Leadership Trail (2003, with Tom Brazaitis)Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment (2003)Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future (2005, with Evan Thomas)Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Politics (2008)

(English text)Australian edition of "PHOTOPLAY" magazine, and very rare. Has a very nice colour shot of Esther Williams on the cover. Dated January 1951. 68 pages.

Other featuresHawaiian lullaby by Ben Gage (husband of Esther Williams)Hollywood divorces aren't my fault, by Louella Parsons;Lana Turner is back with a new lifeHistory of "The Hollywood Figure" (lots of cheesecake)Peter Lawford4 page list of current actors, their marriage record, home life facts, community service and honors6 very cute pics of Liza Minnelli as a pint-sized ballerina;Lewis Milestone, the director of "Kangaroo""It Was A Dream Of A Party" - with Rock Hudson, Vera Ellen, Douglas Sirk, Allene Roberts, Joan Evans, Johnny Sands, Barbara Lawrence & Robert Stack, David Brian.MONTGOMERY CLIFT is a "Restless Rebel" (5 cool pics).Gorgeous evening gowns modelled by Vera Ellen.Deborah Kerr, Lauren Bacall, Barbara Lawrence & Virginia Mayo.

Original Montgomery Clift autographed photo purchased seveal years ago from the state of Claire Kroger, longtime companion of Greta Garbo. Ms. Kroger lived with Ms. garbo for many tears and was with Greta when Greta died in 1990. Ms. Koger was left out of Greta's will and died penniless. Shortly afeter her death belongins were sold at an state sale where among several items were two photographs, this one of Montgomery Clift and the other of Lana Turner, wich I also have up for auction. This photograph of Montgomery Clift, who was a close and personal friend of Ms. Garbo. They're friendship spanned many years where Greta and Monty developed a strong relationship. Ms. Garbo met the young Montgomery during his New York theater years and convinced the reluctant actor to expand his repertoire onto the movie screen, where he found success.

Game 1: Andy Robustelli (b. 12/8/1925) - "Imports Dolls" (self-employed; Andy is also the Coach, Player and Co-Captain the NY Giants Football team. The panel must guess his secondary occupation of importing and selling bobblehead dolls patterned after the characters in the comic strip Peanuts, which was created by Charles Schulz. The dolls are sold under the company name of - what sounded like - Robustelli, Dodake and Unsworth.)

Game 2: Mrs. Dinah Thetford - "Television Director" (salaried; in the United Kingdom, she works for Associated TeleVision Limited as the director of the British equivalent of "To Tell The Truth" and other programs; she stated that American panel shows are better than British panel shows; from London, England)

Game 3: Montgomery Clift (10/17/1920 - 7/23/1966) (as Mystery Guest)

Game 4: Chet Gross - "President of Rubber Band Company" (self-employed; he is the President of Merit Supreme Rubber Bands; from Alliance, OH)

Aired January, 1963. Arlene Francis, Peter Cook, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Bennett Cerf. Challengers are a doll importer, a television director, and the president of a rubber band company. Mystery guest is Montgomery Clift. (WKEND-3/20150)

NOVEMBER 1952: Artist Paul Clemens, a close friend of Ava's, was living in a guest house on Harry and Joan Cohn's estate. Harry, the head of Columbia Pictures, asked Paul if he would invite Ava for dinner. As Paul recalled, "Ava knew that what producer Buddy Adler and Cohn were working on was the script for From Here to Eternity. And at the Cohns' that night Ava said, 'You know who's right for that part of Maggio, don't you? That sonofabitch of a husband of mine. He's perfect for it.' And Joan said, 'My God, you're right!"' Ava had to leave for Africa to begin filming Mogambo. Dad went with her. Joan carried the ball. A week later Frank Sinatra received a telegram from his new agent, Bert Allenberg of the William Morris Agency, telling him to come home. He did his screen test for Maggio in Hollywood. Joan Cohn said, "Harry called me at home one day and told me to come to the Columbia lot. He sat me down-just the two of us-in a projection room and he ran Eli Wallach's and Frank Sinatra's screen tests. Not once, not twice, but three times. Then Harry turned to me and I said, 'Well, you've got a nice Jewish boy and you've got a nice Italian boy, Harry. What's your problem?"' Harry made the ethnically accurate choice. Frank got the role-$1,000 a week-co-starring with Burt Lancaster,Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed.

APRIL 1953: The stars of From Here to Eternity flew to Hawaii to begin filming. Burt Lancaster remembered, "Deborah Kerr and me and Frank and Monty are sitting up in the front of the plane. And he and Monty are drunk. Monty, poor Monty, was this kind of a drinker-he'd chug-a-lug one martini and conk out. And Frank was, I believe, having a few problems, and so, when we arrived, these two bums were unconscious. They were gone! Deborah and I had to wake them up....This is the way they arrived, and Harry Cohn is down there with the press and everything. Well, we got through that, and now we start to do the picture. Every night, after work, we would meet in Frank's room. He had a refrigerator and he would open it and there would be these iced glasses. He would prepare the martinis with some snacks while we were getting ready to go to an eight o'clock dinner. We'd sit and chat about the day's work and he would try his nightly call to Ava, who was in Spain. In those days in Spain, if you lived next door to your friends, you couldn't get them on the telephone, let alone try to get them on the phone from Hawaii. He never got through. Not one night. When you finished your martini, he would take the glass from you, open up the icebox and get a fresh cold glass, and by eight o'clock he and Monty would be unconscious. I mean really unconscious. Every night. So Deborah and I would take Frank's clothes off and put him to bed. Then I would take Monty on my shoulders and we would carry him down to his room, take his clothes off and dump him in bed. And then she and I and the Zinnemanns would go out and have dinner."

AUGUST 17, 1953: From Here to Eternity opened nationwide, on its way to grossing more than $80 million in its first year and becoming Columbia's biggest money-maker to date. So big was the box office that New York's Capitol Theater remained open 24 hours a day to accommodate the crowds. Topping the critics' choice of acclaimed performances: Sinatra as Maggio.

JANUARY 9, 1993: The Career Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival was bestowed on my father at the Riviera Hotel. Preceding the presentation of the award was an hourlong tribute with Robert Wagner serving as master of ceremonies. The tribute chronicled Dad's career through a number of his film clips, including scenes with Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate, Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running andMontgomery Cliftin From Here to Eternity. At the ceremony, George Sidney, who directed Dad in two musicals, Pal Joey and Anchors Aweigh, paid him the ultimate compliment: "His first take is better than most people's tenth. He always went for the best and took risks."

ERNEST BORGNINE(FATSO JUDSON, THE GUY WHO KILLS MAGGIO): I went to work the first day, and as luck would have it, my first scene was with Frank Sinatra and I'm dying inside, because here was the man who song "Nancy" (I named my daughter Nancy because of that song). My idol, my everything, I loved him in everything he ever did. And I said, "How can 1, a mere nothing, come on here?" But I knew I had to play this part as the meanest SOB that ever existed, otherwise the part won't play. So I was out there pounding the piano and everything else, and we started this scene. I'm looking around and I see Frank Sinatra dancing with this girl. And I see Montgomery Clift over with somebody else. And standing on the side were Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster talking to Fred Zinnemann. I was engulfed with stars. And I'm just shaking, you know. And Fred suddenly looked up and said, "OK, begin the scene!" So we started. I'm playing the piano and it come to the point where Frank says, "Come on, why don't you stop this banging on the piano, will ya? Give us a chance with our music." And I stood up to say my first line. I said, "Listen you little wop." He looked up at me, and as he looked up at me, he broke out into a smile and he said, "My God, he's 10 feet tall!" Do you know the whole thing just collapsed. His laughter broke the tension. It was so marvelous. I've never forgotten Frank for that. He was the most wonderful guy to work with that you ever saw in your life. He knew how I must have felt you know. And because of it, he took the time to break that tension. That's something that I have done with everybody that I've ever worked with since. I break the ice for the other people. And I think it's nice, because it reverberates all down the line.

BURT LANCASTER ON SINATRA'S PERFORMANCE IN FROM HERE TO ETERNITY:His fervor, his anger, his bitterness had something to do with the character of Maggio, but also with what he had gone through in the last number of years: a sense of defeat, and the whole world crashing in on him, his marriage to Ava going to pieces-all of those things caused this ferment in him, and they all come out in that performance. You knew this was a raging little man who was, at the some time, a good human being. Monty [Montgomery Clift] watched the filming of one of Frank's close-ups and said, "He's going to win the Academy Award." And that's what Monty felt was going to happen.

10.1.10

Date of Death:23 July1966, New York City, New York, USA (coronary occlusion)

Birth Name: Edward Montgomery Clift

Nickname: Monty

Height: 5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Monty was born just after his twin sister Roberta and eighteen months after his brotherBrooks Clift. Their father William made a lot of money in banking but was quite poor during the depression. Their mother Ethel "Sunny" was born out of wedlock and spent much of her life and the family fortune finding her illustrious southern lineage and raising her children as aristocrats. At 13, Monty appeared onBroadway ("Fly Away Home"), and chose to remain in the New York theater for over ten years before finally succumbing to Hollywood. He gained excellent theatrical notices and soon piqued the interests of numerous lovelorn actresses; their advances met with awkward conflict. While working in New York in the early 1940s, he met wealthy former BroadwaystarLibby Holman. She developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican Mural" for him. It was ironic his relationship with the bisexual middle-aged Holman would be the principal (and likely the last) heterosexual relationship of his life and only cause him further anguish over his sexuality. She would wield considerable influence over the early part of his film career, advising him in decisions to decline lead roles inSunset Blvd. (1950), (originally written specifically for him; the story perhaps hitting a little too close to home) andHigh Noon(1952). His long apprenticeship on stage made him a thoroughly accomplished actor, notable for the intensity with which he researched and approached his roles. By the early 1950's he was exclusively homosexual, though he continued to maintain a number of close friendships with theater women (heavily promoted by studio publicists). His filmdebutwasRed River (1948) withJohn Wayne quickly followed by his early personal success The Search (1948) (Oscar nominations for this, A Place in the Sun (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)). By 1950, he was troubled with allergies and colitis (the army had rejected him in WWII for chronic diarrhea) and, along with pill problems, he was alcoholic. He spent a great deal of time and money on psychiatry. In 1956, during filming ofRaintree County (1957), he ran his Chevrolet into a tree after leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor's; it was she who saved him from choking by pulling out two teeth lodged in his throat. His smashed face was rebuilt, he reconciled with his estranged father, but he continued bedeviled by dependency on drugs and his unrelenting guilt over his homosexuality. With his Hollywood career in an irreversible slide (despite giving an occasional riveting performance, such as in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)), Monty returned to New York and tried to slowly develop a somewhat more sensible lifestyle in his brownstone. He was set to play in Taylor's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), when his companion Lorenzo James found him lying nude on top of his bed, dead from what the autopsy called "occlusive coronary artery disease." His death was called the longestsuicide in history by famed acting teacher,Robert Lewis.

The release of Red River(1948) made him an overnight sensation and instant star. He embodied a new type of man on screen, the beautiful, sensual and vulnerable man that seemed to appeal to women and men alike. AfterA Place in the Sun(1951) came out he was Hollywood's hottest male star and adored by millions. He looked incredible and was a fine actor, a rare combination. His only rival in this regard during the next few years wasMarlon Brando, whose career turned out to be more stable and successful in the end. Clift's mental problems prevented him from staying at the top, as his drinking and drug problem began to affect his acting and bankability. The loss of his dashing looks in a well publicized road accident during the filming ofRaintree County(1957)didn'thelp, either. What followed could be described as the longest suicide in show-business history.

Interred at Quaker Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, USA.

He had so many health problems on the set of Freud(1962) that Universal sued him for the cost of the film's production delays. During the trial, the film opened and was such a huge hit that Clift's lawyers brought up the point that the film was doing well because of Clift's involvement. Clift won a lucrative settlement.

He was voted the 60th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

WasElizabeth Taylor's choice to play her husband, the closeted homosexual Major Weldon Penderton, inReflections in a Golden Eye(1967). He died before the film began shooting and was replaced by Marlon Brando, who at one time was considered his only rival as an attractive leading man who was also a great actor.

In Robert Laguardia's "Monty" (1977), the first published biography, Laguardia tells of how Clift was discomfited when he initially met co-star Burt Lancasteron the set ofFrom Here to Eternity (1953). Lancaster was in awe of Monty and was so nervous, he actually shook during their first scene (as also mentioned in Lancaster's biography).

On the set of The Young Lions (1958), Marlon Brando insisted on doing his own stunt fall after being "shot" by co-stars Clift and Dean Martinand wound up dislocating his shoulder. Clift, seeing that Brando was in pain, offered him a swig from the thermos jug he carried with him at all times. The combination of vodka and prescription drugs in the thermos helped Brando through the ordeal.

Marlon Brando, who calls him a "friend" in his autobiography, says that Clift was a tormented soul addicted to alcohol and chloral hydrate, a depressant and sedative which he drank. On the set ofThe Young Lions (1958), he warned Clift that he was destroying himself like Brando's own alcoholic mother had. For his part, Clift was always supportive of Brando as an actor, even when his career began faltering afterMutiny on the Bounty (1962).

Suffered from dysentery and colitis for most of his adult life.

Spoke fluent French, Italian and German.

His father was a violent, abusive, ultra-conservative bigot and did not get along with his son. As an actor, whenever Clift was playing characters snapping as they went up against ignorance or brutality, Clift was said to have acted with his father in mind as an antagonist.

Hollywood folklore has it that his ghost haunts the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The actor had stayed there while filmingFrom Here to Eternity(1953).

At his near-fatal car accident in 1956, Rock Hudson, Michael WildingandKevin McCarthy formed a protective shield to prevent Clift's photo from being taken by photographers as he was carried from the wreck to the ambulance.

Became good friends withDean Martinwhile filmingThe Young Lions(1958), and Clift helped the singer, who was best known at that time as a light comedian, with rehearsing his heavy dramatic scenes. In later years, as Clift was ostracized by the Hollywood social set for his substance abuses and mental instability, Martin stuck by the troubled actor and often brought him along as his guest to parties.

Son of William Brooks Clift and wife Ethel Anderson Fogg, an illegitimate daughter of Woodbury Blair by Maria Latham Anderson, both of whom had Dutch American ancestry. Woodbury Blair was the son of Montgomery Blair, after whom his great-grandson received his middle name, and wife Mary Elizabeth Woodbury, daughter of Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), US Supreme Court, and wife Elizabeth Wendell Clapp.

Voted for Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election, but later actively campaigned for Democratic candidateAdlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential election - much to the annoyance of his father.

He was a close friend ofElizabeth Taylor, although he greatly disliked her husbandRichard Burton, and the feeling was mutual. Clift once said, "Richard Burton doesn't act, he just recites.".

In the James Kirkwood novel "Hit Me With A Rainbow", early on the lead character is told that he resembles Montgomery Clift. He reflects that this has been happening often and surmises is it due to Clift's recent death.

Robert LaGuardia, in his 1988 biography "Monty," claimed that directorJohn Huston, who had paternalistic feelings towards Clift after directing the alcoholic and emotionally troubled actor in The Misfits (1961) (1961), became sadistic towards him during the troubled Freud (1962) (1962) shoot. Basing his charges on interviews with co-star Susannah York, LaGuardia claimed that Huston kept asking Clift about the Freudian concept of "represssion," obviously alluding to Clift's repressed homosexuality. Apparently, Huston himself could not broach the idea that Monty was gay in his own mind, but subconsciously, he reacted to Monty's homosexuality quite negatively. (Marilyn Monroehad admonished Monty not to work with Huston again, finding him a sadist on the "Misfits" set. Her ex-husbandArthur Miller, on the other hand, did not fault Huston in his autobiography "Timebends," but instead, marveled about how he kept his cool during the "Misfits" shoot, which was also troubled due to Marilyn Monroe's mental illness and frequent absences from the set.) Monty's biographer thought that Huston still had paternalistic feelings towards the actor, but was subconsciously appalled at his surrogate son's homosexuality; thus, he began to torture him on the set by insisting on unnecessary retakes and that he perform his own stunts, such as climbing up a rope. Despite Monty's many problems, he always proved a trouper, and gave as much as he could, including diving into a river in his last film, The Defector(1966)(1966).

Personal Quotes

[reported last words, upon being asked if he wanted to see one of his movies on TV[ Absolutely not!

What do I have to do to prove I can act?

I love the stage, but after a few months you can get tired. I would rather do three movies than play in one stage hit. I played in four flops in a row when I was about 17 and I was delighted. I was being paid to be trained.

I keep my family out of my public life because it can be an awful nuisance to them. What's my mother going to tell strangers anyway? That I was a cute baby and that she's terribly proud of me? Nuts. Who cares?

[recalling his arrival in Hollywood] I told them I wanted to choose my scripts and my directors myself. "But sweetheart," they said, "you're going to make a lot of mistakes." And I told them, "You don't understand; I want to be free to do so."

Good dialogue simply isn't enough to explain all the infinite gradations of a character. It's behavior -- it's what's going on behind the lines.

I don't want to be labeled as either a pansy or a heterosexual. Labeling is so self-limiting. We are what we do, not what we say we are.

I feel my real talent lies in directing for my later years.

[on Marilyn Monroe] Marilyn was an incredible person to act with, the most marvelous I ever worked with and I have been working for 29 years.

[on Elizabeth Taylor] Liz is the only woman I have ever met who turns me on. She feels like the other half of me.

Harry Crampton Collection. Crampton was a graphic artist, with a keen eye for beauty, who became a movie press agent in the early years of film. In 2006 he passed away in Toronto. Crampton was an avid colletor of vintage Hollywood magazines. He loved the 1920's and 1930's era and always dressed to the "hilt" adorned in attire from that era. Harry Crampton was extremely friendly to all who knew him and passionate about both his collection and Hollywood stars. These magazines were aquired thru a colse friend of Harry Crampton.

Appearing on Broadway at the age of thirteen, Clift achieved success on the stage and starred there for 10 years before moving to Hollywood, debuting in Red River (1948) opposite John Wayne. Clift was nominated for anAcademy Awardfor Best Actor that same year for The Search. Clift was billed as a new kind of leading man: sensitive, intense and broodingly handsome, the kind of man women would want to take care of.

He had a highly successful film career, performing in many Oscar-nominated roles and becoming a matinee idol because of his good looks and sex appeal. His love scenes with Elizabeth Taylor inA Place in the Sun(1951) set a new standard for romance in cinema. His roles in A Place in the Sun, the 1953 classic From Here to Eternity and The Young Lions(1958) are considered signatures of his career... read full article.